Glontes of Gluttony #3
【A world where you don't have to shoot someone dead. You must have thought your dream had come true.】
【But now that you've looked inside, how is it? This world is no different. Only the wrapping is ridiculous.】
【That pain you're feeling right now is the most blatant proof.】
【War is still by your side.】
【Loss is still eyeing you hungrily.】
【Just like bullets and shells turned your comrades into cooling chunks of meat.】
【Just like the flames of nukes devoured your parents without leaving a single bone fragment.】
【This time, cards will gnaw away at your precious things.】
Rootless rage and hatred whispered.
【My wandering king.】
【Will you just watch helplessly again?】
【Fleeing endlessly from me?】
【Believing that paradise awaits at the end of that aimless path?】
"Shut up."
I clutched my throbbing left eye and growled softly. I had no more time to listen to its ravings right now.
Glontes's turn wasn't over yet.
"The moment my 'Musca' creature deals battle damage to the opponent... the effect of Famished Kingdom - Pamesium activates..."
Famished Kingdom - Pamesium
Kurrrr...!
The kingdom of flesh wailed deafeningly. The swollen masses of meat vibrated in a disgustingly repulsive display.
"All 'Musca' creatures on my field gain 500 status points..."
-Kiiik! Kiiik!
Status: 800 → 1,300
"If there are no Musca Corps Cradles on my field, I can summon that card from my deck or hand..."
Magic embedded in the Battle Arc activated, and a card popped out from Glontes's deck.
He plucked it out with his withered fingers and immediately placed it on the Battle Arc.
Weeeeng...!!
Then, atop the throne of bone and leather at the pinnacle of the flesh tower, something distorted like a lump of blood dropped with a thud.
What initially looked like a mass of congealed flesh writhed ceaselessly, emitting fly buzzes and gurgling liquid sounds.
"With this, my turn ends..."
Glontes of Gluttony
"Then it's my turn!"
I squeezed my burning left eye shut and, the moment I took my turn, drew a card and checked it, nodding slightly.
I'd been wondering how to use the [Atomic Core] sitting idle in my hand, and lo and behold, a perfect card came up.
"I activate Supply Recycle from my hand!"
Ricardo Bardi
Mana Crystals: 2 → 1
"I select up to three cards from this deployed card and my hand, put them into my deck, and shuffle. Then, I can draw that many new cards from my deck!"
Of course, what I was sending to the deck was [Atomic Core], plus two cards I didn't need right now.
"I've put a total of four cards into my deck. Therefore, I draw four new ones!"
"Supply Recycle... quite a rare card..."
I'd thought its head was full of nothing but eating, but as expected of a Seven's Finger executive. I sneered at him as his eyes gleamed, then organized my thoughts while eyeing the four new cards in my hand and the [Musca Corps Cradle].
'Nautilus... and this card. Plus Musca Corps Cradle, Corpse Cradle.'
Judging by its appearance and assuming Glontes's deck was insect-type creatures, it was probably some kind of pupa. Especially since it dropped right onto the jade throne—that felt meaningful.
Probably a card that summons a powerful creature once certain conditions are met.
'Can't just let that sit there.'
Having decided what to do, I selected the card from my hand to play. My hand trembled hesitantly for a moment as I gripped it, but I bit my lip and placed it on the Battle Arc.
Right now, the only thing that mattered was victory. Winning and safely getting Adella back.
Compared to that, my current emotions were irrelevant.
"I summon Machinery Supply Dog - K-56 Peanut!"
With a clunky clang, a mechanical dog with a ridiculous name landed on my field.
Ammo belt around its neck, boxy supplies on its body. Machine guns and a long conveyor device hung from both shoulders.
Meanwhile, vivid bullet scars marred its rugged steel flank.
It glanced at me for a moment, then wagged its tail like it used to.
...That tail was now a clunky mechanical device, and I gave no response.
【Ah, it's been a while.】
As I stared silently at it for a moment, [Enola Fortress] started yapping from within again. My left eye burned hot.
【Friends before the war.】
【War machines now.】
【What a masterpiece.】
"..."
As it said, Peanut was the dog our battalion commander had brought before the war. He'd told me, then a sergeant, to look after it.
Then the war broke out, things went south, and command decided to repurpose the mutt since it was pretty smart for a pet.
But how long could a dog that wasn't even trained as a military one last on the battlefield?
Peanut supplied me with ammo until it took a bullet in the flank meant for me and died.
And in this life, it became one of my Origin cards.
What a doggone story.
And here I was, shoving it back onto the battlefield.
"When this card is successfully summoned, I can draw 1 card from my deck."
My pupils trembled for an instant at the card I drew with its special ability.
It was the ruined old world. Lost World.
【Behold, my foolish king.】
【You have returned after all.】
"Lord Bardi...?"
As I clutched my throbbing left eye and stayed still, Erhun called out in an anxious voice.
In response, I swung the card in my hand instead of answering.
"I deploy Lost World and Rusty Factory, and attack the Musca Corps Cradle with K-56!!"
─Even as I said it, I didn't utter its name again. At that moment, only [Enola Fortress]'s laughter faintly, quietly clawed at my soul.
Kurrrr...
The remnants of the old world rose, cleaving the earth to confront the kingdom of flesh.
From within, [K-56] expanded its red camera eye and shoved aside the dead land.
The machine gun on its shoulder revved with a dr-r-ruck, heating the barrel. Gunfire as heavy as the heartbeat plunged into the abyss thundered through the air.
"At this moment, the effect of Famished Kingdom - Pamesium activates... The moment Musca Corps Cradle becomes the target's attack, if there's a Musca-named creature on my field, the attack target changes to that creature..."
[Musca Premion] wiggled its bloated body to block [K-56]'s path. Blind bullets mercilessly shredded its repulsive silhouette.
"Ngh..."
Glontes of Gluttony
Soul Points: 10,800 → 9,500
Kiiik... The tail of [K-56], having felled its target, wagged once more. Rusted gears meshed with a pitiful whine.
"Pamesium's effect activates once again... When a Musca creature on my field is destroyed by an opponent's attack and sent to the graveyard, Musca Corps Cradle's status increases by half of that creature's status..."
[Musca Premion], ragged and sprawled on the ground. Its tumor-like swollen belly began inflating like a balloon.
Pop─!
Maggots writhed amid the bursting flesh, scattering like cherry blossoms.
The pale, glossy grubs, wriggling endlessly, each bit into chunks of [Musca Premion]'s flesh and crawled toward [Musca Corps Cradle] atop the flesh tower.
Status: 0 → 650
"...Tch."
[K-56]'s tail drooped at my tongue-click. [Enola Fortress]'s laughter. The throbbing pain in my left eye. I ignored it all.
Instead, I filled my head with the next step.
'Boosting status, huh...'
If [Musca Corps Cradle] wasn't the finished form as I suspected, but a pupa—an intermediate stage...
'Does boosting its status allow summoning something from inside the pupa?'
Unfortunately, I didn't have a card to stop that right now.
But if I kept summoning creatures and pressuring it, there'd be a limit to how much [Pamesium] could protect [Musca Corps Cradle].
Aiming for the next turn, I set one magic circle and declared the end of my turn.
Ding─! Ding─! Ding─!
The rusty factory district echoed with an especially eerie sound today, calling its workers. [K-56], tail limp, entered it.
─I didn't look at its eyes. Not until the end.
Ricardo Bardi